Naruto: A New Fate
by Kreyvin
Summary: Naruto is forced to return to the past to, hopefully, stop a terrible event from taking place... But he cannot edit his original timeline, for it has already occurred. Will he be able to save what he needs to? Or will his actions ruin his own future? Read to find out! (No pairings yet, MAJOR SPOILERS, OP Naruto and Kurama, Time Travel, Fairly AU) Recent: Story Name Change
1. Chapter 1 Fires of Fate

**Author's Notes**

This story will, for the most part, follow the Manga/Anime storylines... Some minor changes, many MAJOR changes.

No Flaming in the reviews, please... I want constructive stuff, not bashing.

Yes, I know, many of the descriptions are... Sub par.

* * *

A man rushed through the forests, a boy in his arms, the boy was unmoving, his breathing shallow and almost nonexistent. The boy's messy blond hair was caked with mud and traces of blood, his face bore the same mess, his left eye was swollen shut and had turned a disturbing black color. The boy's clothes were tattered and were also covered in mud and blood. Around his body he wore a vest, dark green in color minus a red whirl pattern on the back. This vest had seen better days, it's armored shoulders were broken and useless, as was every pouch on it's front. The boy's arms were, or had been, covered in long, black sleeves with grey colored arm-guards underneath. The sleeves were torn and useless, the left sleeve was completely gone, to be honest. His arm-guards were broken and barely hung onto the boy's arms. The man was not caked in as much blood as the boy, but blood covered his front, arms and flecks across his whiskered cheeks.

The man hurried along the forested path, his path well illuminated by the city that burned at his back. It's tall buildings burned brightly in the night, but no sound but the crackling of the flames reached his ears. Everything was gone. His wife. His daughter. His village. His friends. All of it either burned to the ground or executed before the flames could reach it.

And now it dared to take his son from him. Bolt Uzumaki lay in his father's arms, the man desperately trying to flee from their burning home. At this point Naruto Uzumaki, the Orange Hokage of Konoha, the Hero of the Fourth War, the bearer of Kurama, the Nine Tailed Fox... Was nothing but a man trying to protect what was left of his life. Everything was burning, Hinata, the woman he had loved for so long, their daughter, Himawari, the girl having only recently become a chunnin herself... All of it gone. Destroyed by a force nobody had seen coming; the Daimyos themselves.

Each of the villages were burning. From Iwa to Oto. From Suna all the way across the seas to Yukigakure. The Shinobi world was crumbling to the ground and nobody, not even the heroes of the fourth war, could do a single thing to stop it.

Naruto felt his left feet strike a root, causing the Kage to tumble head over heels, but years of training had taught to man to always land on his feet... Which he did out of instinct. Breathing heavily, Naruto checked Bolt's vitals, the fourteen year old jounin was barely hanging onto life. The snap of a twig and a dull thump from nearby caused Naruto's fingers to grasp as many shuriken as he could throw, but he lowered them shortly after.

"Sa..suke?" Naruto breathed, his lifelong friend and fellow hero was leaning against a tree, but something... Something was off, Naruto could feel it.

"Dobe?" Sasuke breathed before stepping into the light, and Naruto's heart sank. The Rinnegan that had been stored within Sasuke's left eye was completely gone, even the eyelid had been torn away. His right eye wasn't gone, but it had been damaged and was now unable to open due to one well placed cut straight down it's center. Sasuke sat his back against a tree and slowly slid down the rough surface, sighing as his legs practically gave out under him.

"Sasuke.. It's gone. It's all gone." Sasuke could only nod in response. "I know, Dobe... I found Sakura earlier... She died protecting Sarada. Both are gone, Naruto... Just.. Gone.." Naruto looked down as he placed two fingers against Bolt's neck and froze. He was gone. Tears flowed freely down Naruto's cheeks, they path already determined through the dirt by the tears that had fallen through the whole ordeal.

"Naruto. Use It." Naruto blinked and looked up at Sasuke. "Use the Sage. Call him... I can't now." Sasuke indicated his missing left eye.

"But... What the hell can the old jiji do? I mean... It.. I.." Naruto's mind was racing and on the verge of a severe mental breakdown, but someone finally decided to add his two cents.

'IDIOT!' Naruto winced. 'All of them are gone, brat. Mata, Chomei, even Bee and Gyuu. All. Of. Them. Are. Dead. We three are alone in this... Two really, with his missing eyes. You have to brat, you have to change this. None of this was written, none of it. The old man will figure something out.'

"Kurama... Alright... Sasuke, since you don't have a connection anymore..." Sasuke gave a 'hn' as he tapped his neck where Orochimaru had bitten him so many years before. "If you can, keep the snake perv from sinking his fangs in." Naruto blinked, looking up at Sasuke.

"Sasuke, what?" Was all Naruto could blurt out, at this point confused as to why Sasuke was asking him to change something so important in the past. "Dobe, it's a butterfly effect. The time line you'll be altering isn't ours. This... Shit, this time line is done. We're done. All of it. We can't change this time line. Everything that happens after this is out of our hands." The sounds of explosions in the distance caused the two heroes to glance toward Konoha.

"Hurry up. I'll do what I can if they come here." Naruto nodded and positioned himself in a cross-legged position, giving one final look towards Bolt's body before closing his eyes and tapping his fists together as he dove into his mindscape, hoping, against all odds, that speaking with the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo, would help is this... Bleak situation.

* * *

Naruto stood in the dark cavern that was his mind, tunnels leading in every direction, but it was quiet, except for the shifting of fur from the massive nine tailed fox that sat before him.

"Long time, kiddo. Hope you remember how to call him." Naruto scowled up at Kurama, who only gave a toothy smirk in response. Naruto walked towards a long wall that bore no mark, tunnel or otherwise. It was a flat, white marble surface that looked completely out of place in his mindscape. The blonde placed his palms against the marble and pumped a small amount of chakra through it. Not his, nor Kurama's, but some of the power that the Sage of Six Paths, Hagoromo, had left during he and Sasuke's battle against Hagoromo's mother, Kaguya. The wall began to groan as red lines began to dance across it's surface, slowly meeting and then dancing off in different directions. Naruto and Kurama watched as the lines created a mural, of sorts, with depictions of all ten of the tailed beasts, and of a small portion of the Allied Shinobi Forces, finally ending with a an arm-less Naruto and Sasuke standing just underneath a depiction of Hagoromo. Starting at it's top, a line appeared, and quickly shot down, splitting the mural in half before the massive piece of marble began to move.

Inward the stone swung, a light began shining through the crack as it became wider and wider, causing the man to shield his eyes. Kurama did the same with two of his tails, both blinking as their eyes adjusted. Before them was a field, a field that stretched for miles save one thing; a small hill nearby. Naruto nor Kurama could see anything else on the field, but there was a mountain range far, far in the distance, it's peaks hidden by clouds. Naruto looked up to Kurama, who gave a shrug, then pointed towards the hill. Naruto nodded and the two ended this strange place. It felt like an eternity before the two reached the hill... And were disappointed when nobody was there.

"Shit... Now what?" "What now?" Both Kurama and Naruto jumped at the sound of Hagoromo's gravely voice. Naruto spun, restraining himself from outright hugging the old man, we was ecstatic to see the man that, quite possibly, held the only salvation that they had. Hagoromo looked just as he had during the war; a long, flowing white cloak covering black pants. The red Rinnegan still positioned at the center of his forehead, the two horns still sticking out from his white hair, his long beard, however, seemed longer, if anything.

"Hago-jiji.." Naruto murmured, causing the Sage to slowly lift his staff... Then cracked Naruto over the head with it. Naruto groaned as he crouched down, holding his head in agony. Kurama sighed as he scratched his chin with one claw.

"Naruto, Kurama... You two look like you've seen the deepest pits of hell and then had to walk back... What's happened? Did my mother appear again?" Both shook their heads as Naruto dove into their tale, from almost the time after the war, to the psychopath from the Otsutsuki clan that had kidnapped Hanabi and Hinata years ago. The sage was concerned about this, but Naruto didn't allow him to interrupt, continuing on about dealing with the hardships of a united shinobi world... And then ended when he explained the the Daimyo had effectively wiped all of them out. Hagoromo stared at Naruto in disbelief.

"All? All of them? Every sing-" "Father. All of the others are dead. Even Gyuuki and Killer Bee." Hagoromo rubbed his forehead, shaking his head at the news. Naruto and Kurama glanced at each other, then back at the sage as he began to pace.

"No... All of it... None of it is right. Nothing... No..." It was almost like the ramblings of a madman. "Naruto, Kurama... All of these events. From Toneri's appearance to this troubling genocide of the shinobi... None of it was foreseen. Not a single thing." He stared hard at Naruto and Kurama, who stared equally hard back. Suddenly, Hagoromo placed a hand on Naruto's shoulder, giving it a squeeze.

"You want to know, don't you?" Both in question nodded. "There is. And I will allow it... Though I do not know where it will send you, I have no control over it. Kurama, you could attempt to guide the two of you, but I would advise against it, should Kurama end up in one time and Naruto in another." The two gulped, having been forced apart once before, during the war, and neither wanted to even thinking about experiencing that amount of pain again. After a few moments, the sage lifted his legs up, his body now floating in place as he crossed his legs, his staff across his knees as he closed his eyes, gathering what energy he would need.

"Naruto... Kurama... Prepare yourselves. This process will be both takin on your bodies... But also incredibly painful to experience." Naruto blinked at the old man, tilting his head in confusion. Naruto may be near fifty, but describing a technique that clearly only the Sage knew like this was... Definitely confusing for the orange Hokage.

"What... What do you mean, father?" Kurama finally asked, making Hagoromo sigh. "Kurama, it will drain you of energy and chakra, leaving you near depleted, and Naruto." Naruto snapped to his head up as the Sage turned his eyes towards him.

"Your body will change to the time period you will be sent to, you could be twenty, ten, maybe even the night of your birth." Naruto clenched his right fist, the arm gifted to him as a parting gifting from Hashirama Senju after he and Sasuke's bout completely leveled what was once the Valley of End. Tsunade Senju, the then fifth Hokage, had cultivated the cells given by the first and, after almost a year, he and Sasuke were given their arms. It was the least she could do for the 'two snot nosed brats' that had sealed a goddess and saved the world.

"Are you two prepared?" Hagoromo asked, watching the two as they both seemed to look at the ground, then at each other. Suddenly, both Kurama and Naruto were smirking at each other as Naruto held up his right fist. Kurama slowly lowered a curled up left fist, gently tapping his partner's in return. Hagoromo smirked to himself as he lowered his legs, pausing at they touched the ground.

"And what of Sasuke?" "They took it. They took the power you sealed into his left eye and destroyed it." Hagoromo stiffened and nodded. "Then we have little time before they discover you and prevent our plan from going into motion." The Sage's body faded and flickered as he began moving faster than Kurama nor Naruto had ever seen. From one part of the hill to another the Sage dashed, drawing seals and enchantments that were completely foreign to Kurama, and completely out of understanding of Naruto. Finally, the Sage reappeared at the peak of the hill nearby to Naruto and Kurama.

"There. All is ready." "That... That only took a few seconds.." "Your point?" Kurama and Naruto deadpanned at his response to Naruto. The Sage stuck his staff into the ground and lifted his arms on either side of it's top, the symbols and seals he had drawn began slowing brightly as Hagoromo brought his hands together in front of him, as if he were praying, his palms flat against each other. A bright yellow light rocketed into the sky from each of the individual seals the Sage had drawn. The light slowly bent, striking Naruto and Kurama, surrounding their bodies in a soft golden glow, almost like their union in their Beast Cloak.

"Creation: Sands of Times; Reversal." Hagoromo murmured, his voice echoing all around them for what seemed like and eternity. All around them, from the distant mountains to the closer flowers on the plains became engulfed in light. Soon, it was only the three standing on a pure white plane of existence. Hagoromo slowly separated his hands and extended them towards Naruto and Kurama.

"Good luck." Hagoromo then faded from sight, leaving the two of them alone, slightly confused, but not afraid. They had a chance now, they could stop this, all of it.

* * *

Sasuke watched as Naruto's body slowly faded from sight, he was gone, off to what he hoped was the past. Sasuke sat himself against a large oak tree, smiling as he looked up into the sky, resting his head against the bark. He could no longer see the stars in the skies above, but he could tell that they were there, shining down like nothing was wrong. He cursed under his breath as his breathing became ragged and labored. Sasuke could practically feels arms around him, as if Sakura and Sarada were there with him, holding him in his last moments, and would be there in the next realm.

"Good luck... Dobe..." Sasuke murmured as he ran a finger across his scratched headband, the one Naruto had returned to him almost thirty years prior... He gripped it tightly before his fingers began to lose their grip and the headband rested on his lap, his hand gently turning to the side, the headband slipping from his fingers as Sasuke Uchiha breathed his last in that world as the sounds of explosions tore through the forest as even the lands of their future were torn apart.


	2. Chapter 2 The Boy and The Scroll

Chapter 2 – The Boy and a Scroll

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**Author's Notes**

Hey, what's up, everybody? Chapter 2 is here! Kind of fast, I know... Speaking of fast, this chapter is incredibly fast paced, I apologize for that, I'll try to slow it down in the future.

Also, if you see any wrong spellings or lines that just don't seem/sound right... Please send me a message! I don't mind being corrected, it helps me in the long run.

* * *

Naruto and Kurama stood silently for a few minutes, unsure of what to really expect, especially with a justsu that was sending them back in time... Naruto blinked and looked down, as did Kurama as something caught their eye. It was a dark speck at first, and was slowly growing larger and larger as time passed. Soon, it became obvious that it was a forest... A forest near to Konoha, one that...

"This better not be my birth..." Kurama grimaced and chuckled. "Kiddo... I think this is when you stole that scroll of yours." "The Scroll of Seals? Oh, goody... This will be entertaining." Naruto grumbled as the forest came closer and closer, then two glancing at each other before spotting a speck of yellow down below. It was Naruto, passed out from exhaustion, the Scroll of Seals sitting on the ground next to him, his right hand resting upon it, his left sitting on top of his stomach as he slept. Naruto and Kurama looked at each other before realizing that everything was phased through them. Trees, grass, hell, Naruto wondered why they weren't falling through the ground itself at this point. Shaking his head, however, Naruto looked to Kurama and patted his back as he knelt down next to his younger self.

"Right... See you inside." Kurama growled, bumping his fist against Naruto's back as his blonde partner reached out, touching his younger self on the forehead. For a few moments, nothing happened, causing Naruto to scowl. He was so sure that this would work, at least he had been hoping that. Another minute past and Naruto, getting desperate for something to happen, flared his chakra, as did Kurama in response. Finally, something happened. An orange light engulfed the two as they watched their own bodies begin to fade from sight.

"Well, looks like we go lucky, eh, Kurama?" "No kidding, brat, you'd best be lucky that worked and didn't cause damage." Naruto cringed as the two finally faded from sight, their consciousness melding with the younger Naruto and Kurama sealed within. The young Naruto winced and groaned as the seal upon his stomach shifted and morphed into the Torii Seal, it's appearance now taking on the shape of the Uzumaki Clan symbol, or rather the symbol of Uzushiogakure. As the younger body began to adjust to it's new settings, Naruto and Kurama situated themselves inside.

"It's all here." "Hm?" "Everything. Every memory, every moment... It's all the same." Kurama chuckled, shaking his massive head. "Don't you get it, kiddo? It is you. The same you, just... Younger. Right now we've created a new time line, one that, potentially, won't follow ours into oblivion." Naruto nodded as his narrowed narrowed. He could feel them, Mizuki and Iruka, both searching for him... Iruka was much closer and was nearing rather quickly.

"Time to start, I guess." Kurama chuckled and Naruto gave the fox a soft scowl before vanishing from the mindscape, allowing Kurama to get comfortable.

"Naruto!" Iruka practically bellowed as he landed in the small clearing where Naruto lay. "I finally found you, you damn brat!" Naruto's eyes slowly opened as he gave Iruka a soft smile. Iruka blinked, something feeling... Different about the boy. He wasn't scared, he wasn't nervous, no... He was, of all this, confident. Very confident. What the hell had happened in just a few short hours since he had stolen the Scroll of Seals?

"Yeah... Ya did find me... Nosebleed-sensei." Iruka deadpanned, the boy referring to the moment in class where Naruto had caught him flat footed with the Sexy no Jutsu... Revenge for the punishment henge test, Iruka had to admit, but that was besides the point.

"So, do I pass?" "Pass what? The genin test? Naruto, you stole a very forbidden scroll, that isn't a damn test." "Steal it? I meant for what I learned from it." Iruka froze, staring at Naruto as the boy struggled to his feet. He looked like he had been through hell and back multiple times, and that look.. That look in his eyes, Iruka had seen it before, in his father, of all people. War fatigue is what his mother called it, all of the shinobi who had taken part in the third war seemed to have that look in their eyes, but why did Naruto? He couldn't understand it, not at this moment.

"And what did you learn?" Iruka asked cautiously, his eyes widening as a lighter slid from Naruto's left sleeve and flicked to life as he held the flame near to the scroll. "All of it." Iruka stared at Naruto, searching every inch of him, trying to find something to indicate the boy was lying, there was almost something, some twitch, some smile... But it wasn't there. All there was was confidence and... Something else, Iruka couldn't put his finger on it.

"Duck." Iruka blinked. "DUCK!" Naruto roared, causing Iruka to crouch low as a windmill shuriken passed through where his head had been not a second before. Iruka sucked in breath as Naruto didn't dodge the object, but instead caught it with ease. Spinning the shuriken around his hand, Naruto brought it around, crossing in front from his right to his left, deflecting several kunai that had followed up. Iruka turned to look over his shoulder, his eyes widening when he saw Mizuki standing there. Realization quickly set in as he looked back to Naruto, who was glaring bloody murder at Mizuki. The bastard has tricked Naruto into this!

"Mizuki, what are you doing here?" Iruka asked, rising to his feet and turning to face his fellow teacher. "Don't act like you don't know, Iruka. I'm here for the scroll. Now, Naruto, if you would.. Hand it over." Mizuki cooed, extending a hand towards the blonde boy.

"Naruto, don't gi-" Iruka froze as Naruto slowly sat the scroll on the ground at his feet... And walked towards Mizuki, an air of blood lust surrounding the boy as he passed. Across the forest, all of the chunin and jounin that had joined in the chase froze in place, all turning towards where the three were standing. None of them could understand what was going on, they could feel the blood lust, blood lust that reminded them so much of the Kyuubi when he attacked twelve years prior... But this was human. One hundred percent pure human blood lust. Was this Naruto? Was this the brat that they had heard was the complete dead last? Impossible. Nobody, not even Sarutobi could pull something like this. Looking at each other, they took off, hurrying towards the scene as quickly as they could.

"Do the demon brat has a death wish? Come, then, demon fox! I, Mizuki, will be hailed as a hero!" Mizuki's following laugh caught in his throat as Naruto vanished. The man could only stare at the spot where they boy had been standing, only to feel a blow to his back that sent him rocketing forward. Mizuki gasped and coughed as he struck and bounced off a tree like a rag doll. Mizuki was shaking, his body in shock from the blow as he raised his eyes, watching as Naruto began stalking towards him again. Though Mizuki and the stunned Iruka couldn't sense it, Naruto could feel the squad that had been hunting him appear in the trees all around them, and Sarutobi and several ANBU move in the distance. He put his little plan into action.

"You tried to kill me. You tried to kill Iruka-sensei. You tried to trick me into giving you the scroll, and you think you'd get away with it?" Naruto hissed, causing all around to freeze at the sheer amount of hostility in the boy's voice. "You want a demon? I'll show you a god damn demon." Naruto's right hand dug into his pocket, pulling out a small mirror he sometimes used in his pranks to blind people with sunlight.

"Look in the mirror, Mizuki-teme. Look in the mirror to see a real demon. A human that's tossed away everything for power and fame." Naruto then held up his left hand, a small blue orb of pure chakra began to form and grow larger; a Rasengan. Mizuki froze at the sight. What the hell was going on? The brat wasn't supposed to be this strong, he wasn't supposed to be this fast! Sucking in breath as Naruto vanished against, Mizuki felt a weight like ten thousand pounds crashing down onto his back, blood and bile flying from his mouth as he screamed out in pure agony as the Rasengan tore into his back. Sarutobi and his ANBU appeared just as the Rasengan began to dissipate, Naruto standing over the broken body of Mizuki. Sarutobi's pipe hit the ground, unable to believe what he had just seen. A Rasengan even more powerful that Minato's had just crushed one of his chunin instructors in the blink of an eye. The hunting squad dropped from their positions as a Hyuuga, being wary as to not touch Naruto, checked Mizuki's vitals, shaking his head after a few seconds. The Hyuuga, Naruto knew as Ko, Hinata's personal bodyguard when she was younger, looked up at the moment with... Wait, was that respect? Or was that fear? Naruto couldn't tell at this point.

"Naruto." Came Iruka's voice, causing the blonde to look towards his teacher, who was smiling broadly with a grinning Sarutobi next to him. Naruto walked towards the two as Sarutobi held up a small object as he approached. Naruto took the object, his eyes widening as he looked at the two in shock, causing Sarutobi to chuckle.

"Naruto, did you think I was blind? I saw Mizuki speaking with you before you stole the scroll... So I had my suspicions. But seeing you outright kill the man confirmed my suspicions... Are you alright?" Naruto nodded, tilting his head in confusion. "It is your first kill, Naruto... Many genin break under a mental strain such as that." "It helps to have a big fuzz ball inside your head." Everyone froze, all of them slowly turning to stare at the boy in shock.

"N-Naruto.. You.. You kow about the..?" "Since I was... Three? Oi, Kurama, help me out here." "Two, kiddo, get it right." Came Kurama's voice from the vicinity of Naruto's stomach. Sarutobi nearly fainted from shock at hearing the fox's voice again. Everyone else, excluding Iruka, began to take several steps backwards, away form the boy. "If I wanted to, yes, I'd release him, but that'd keep me from working up to being Hokage, wouldn't it? Idiots..." Naruto snapped at the group, causing some to relax their shoulders, but others to stare at him in shock.

"You can... release the seal?" "Whenever I want, Jiji." "Quit that... I take it you... Saw it in the scroll?" "That and more. You can have the scroll back, I memorized all of it." This time, Sarutobi did faint, the old man falling backwards, two ANBU guards catching him before he hit the ground. Naruto shrugged as Iruka placed a hand on Naruto's right shoulder and began guiding him out of the forest, the hunting squad scattered around them, most staying back to assist the Hokage. As the group neared the edge of the forest, Sarutobi had composed himself and was already waiting for them, his pipe back where it belonged between his lips.

"Naruto... I must emplore you..." "Don't speak of the scroll. Mizuki, I won't bother, half the village will know by tomorrow morning and the rest shortly after that... You know how it goes." Sarutobi chuckled, not questioning Naruto's logic, especially since it was all too true. For a ninja village they were fairly bad at keeping secrets. Sarutobi paused as Naruto looked up at the Hokage monument carved into the side of the mountain. Naruto clenched his fist and pointed it at the head of Minato Namikaze.

"I'm coming, dad, just you wait. I'll put your yellow flash legend to shame." Sarutobi, for the second time that night, dropped his pipe. "Speak of this to nobody." He directed this order to those around, who gulped as nodded at Sarutobi's expression.

"Nartuo. I won't ask how." "Fox." "... I didn't need to know that, but... I can't do anything about it... Naruto, you must, and I mean must keep this secret. If everyone were to learn who your father was... You would be public enemy number one for many, many people." Naruto nodded, although he knew that, in the future, both A and Onoki, the Raikage and Tsuchikage respectively, didn't give a rat's ass that he was the son of the Yellow Flash, all they cared about is what he could do for the good of the shinobi world. Naruto wondered now... Could he prevent Sarutobi's death? Kurama rumbled the same thought in his head, but Naruto kept himself from openly smiling.

"Naruto... Congratulations... And thank you... Though I wonder why Mizuki wanted to take the scroll once you had stolen it..." "I'm not sure, Jiji... I guess there's a snake in the village." Naruto looked up to Iruka as his teacher pushed him along towards Naruto's apartment. Sarutobi, however, had frozen as he knelt down to retrieve his pipe. A snake? Orochimaru. Naruto's comment was making Sarutobi's mind race, but Naruto hoped that it would spur actions, not just thoughts. He could only hope.

Iruka dropped Naruto off at his apartment, several chunin nodding to Naruto as they had made their way, many already hearing that Naruto had killed the traitor, Mizuki. A certain silver haired jounin was watching as Iruka gave one last wave and Naruto enter his apartment. Kakashi Hatake's eyes narrowed, having seen Naruto use the Rasengan and, while nobody else had noticed, an altered, seal-less version of the Flying Thunder God. Kakashi's right rose rose up in a 'smile' as he began humming to himself, opening his worn copy of Icha Icha Paradise. Tomorrow was going to be a fun day, especially if he was given Naruto as a student. He already knew what he'd be doing to the boy, especially after proving that he was far from being the dead last.

The next morning Naruto was up early, almost five in the morning, to be exact. Four hours of sleep was plenty after summoning four clones. He felt refreshed and ready to go, but right now... He was fighting against twenty of his clones, two ANBU were off to the sides, watching his progress as, one by one, he destroyed his clones, though they weren't the only ones. Each of the jounin instructors, from Asuma to Guy, and even Kurenai and Shibi Aburame, the only one missing was, of course, Kakashi, he was actually at Sarutobi's office, dragged there by Yugao Uzuki. After hearing about his dealing with Mizuki, each of the potential jounin instructors wanted a crack at teaching the boy, each wondering how far the boy could go, despite being the host of the Kyuubi. Without warning, Naruto crossed his arms and then swung them out to either side, 'needles' of orange chakra shot out, piercing each of the clones, dispelling them. Asuma's cigarette dropped from his mouth, Kurenai catching it before it passed his waist. She lifted it up to him, the Sarutobi heir gently taking it back in his lips, rubbing his forehead a moment later.

"Whoever get him will have one hell of a time..." Kurenai silently nodded as Naruto left the training grounds, leaving all of them silently contemplating how to train the boy if he was placed on their squad. Luckily, only Kakashi had to worry about that, the annoyed silver haired man left the Hokage's tower, slightly annoyed about his team; Sasuke Uchiha and a fan-girl, Sakura Haruno. And then there was Naruto... Kakashi paled. He had a brooding, emotion driven 'avenger', a squealing fan-girl... And his sensei's flesh and blood who had, without a doubt, rocketed himself to the secret number one of his class. Naruto was really the only one he was looking forward to teaching. With a sigh, Kakashi returned home... And went back to bed. He'd deal with it later. His alarm clock lay nearby... Unset and showing the wrong time and date.

Naruto had returned home and cleaned himself up, a quick shower and a quick, well, several bowls of ramen and he was back out on the street. Naruto wasn't heading towards the academy, but the shopping district. Kurama had mentioned changing his clothes, and, for once, Naruto agreed. He still loved his orange, but he had to admit, his younger self went completely overboard. Entering the clothing store, he slipped along the edge of the building, keeping out of sight of the owner, who was sure to throw him out, the fat bastard. It took Naruto a little while, but he finally found what he was looking for; a rack of black shirts, each of them long sleeved, but cuffed at the wrist. Each cuff was around three to four inches, a single button holding it it place against the sleeves. Naruto grabbed an armful, around ten or so, maybe twelve, he didn't count and hurried to the counter, setting them down quickly and grabbing Gama-chan from inside of his orange jacket. The owner, unfortunately, was the one before the counter. The man glared down at Naruto as he slowly reached towards the boy. Naruto gulped, but then blinked as the man pushed Gama-chan back into his jacket, his other hand taking the tags off of each shirt.

"Kid... On the house." Naruto stared at the man in shock. "You saved Iruka's life. You took out a traitor. Kid... You might not know it, but people respect you for that." He extended a hand towards naruto, who gingerly took it, the man shaking his hand briskly before releasing him.

"You're welcome anytime, kid... Just not on the house." Naruto smiled and nodded before hurrying out and back to his apartment. Naruto opened his closet with one foot and began hanging up the shirts. He paused and tossed one of them onto his bed, yanking off his orange jacket and tossing it into a corner of the room to be forgotten. Naruto held up the black shirt he had been given, nodding to himself as Kurama grumbled about never changing. Naruto unzipped the shirt and pulled it on, zipping it to the base of his neck, leaving an inch of so open so his neck could at least have some air, it wasn't winter yet. Turning to look at himself in the mirror, Naruto realized that, much like the first time he had received it, he had forgotten to put his headband on, his signature goggles sat on top of his head. Naruto slowly pulled them off and tossed them onto the jacket in the corner. He tied the headband across his forehead, then pulled at part of his hair.

"Might need a haircut..." 'You're fine, kiddo. Don't go changing yourself too much, or else people will suspect something' "Probably right..." Naruto muttered before stepping out of his room and made a quick stop in the kitchen for one more bowl of ramen before heading to the academy. Naruto ducked in and out of alleys, avoiding contact with people as much as possible, and, so far, was succeeding. Naruto's eyes shifted to the right, noting that he had already arrived at the academy. Glancing quickly to his left, he took note of the clock in the window of a sandwich joint; 8:57AM. Three minutes before the team announcements... Great, he wasn't trying to be this close to the time, but it was what it was, he couldn't change it now. He entered the academy and made his way to Iruka's classroom, pausing for a moment before sliding the door open. Most everyone was already there, save for Sasuke's screaming fan club. Iruka glanced to his right, the sight causing him to double take.

"Naruto. No orange today?" Naruto shrugged, rubbing the back of his neck, giving Iruka a large smile. Iruka waved his hands towards the student seating. Naruto walked up the stairs, pausing at the seat next to Sasuke, the brooding Uchiha glancing at the blonde as Naruto glanced around before taking the seat.

"I'll spare you from the harpies." Naruto whispered out of the corner of his mouth. Sasuke snorted, his shoulders shaking with silent laughter as the afore mentioned harpies entered the room, Sakura and Ino... Fighting to get through the door. Naruto and Sasuke grimaced at the sight, Sasuke for what was coming, Naruto for forgetting how idiotic these two acted in their genin and academy days. Sakura and Ino, along with several other girls climbed the stairs, arguing who would be marrying Sasuke. Ino and the other girls took their seats, but Sakura... She stood there, staring hearts at Sasuke, but someone was in her way.

"Naruto!" Naruto glanced to his right at Sakura, several people pausing to took, some had heard about Mizuki's fall at Naruto's hands and had spread the word, most wanted to see the altercation. "Move so I can sit next to Sasuke!" "Nope." Sakura froze, several other girls stared at Naruto in shock. Naruto had been head over heels for Sakura for years, so why was he denying her?! Sakura cracked her knuckles as she stepped towards Naruto, but the blonde was having none of it. 'I'm sorry, Sakura... But the younger you needs a shock.'

"What are you going to do, Sakura? Hit me? Try me." Naruto growled, causing even Sasuke to look at the dead last in shock. "I went through hell in a basket last night and I'm in no mood to take any shit from a pink haired harpy that thinks being a ninja is just like a romance novel! Now sit the hell down before I make you!" Naruto roared, causing Iruka to clear his throat to gain their attention as Sakura sat on the bench across the aisle from Naruto and Sasuke. Iruka held up a vanilla folder with the symbol of fire and Konoha on it's front.

"Welcome, everyone! Since you're all here, you passed you genin exams! Now... In this folder are your team assignments. I will begin reading the teams, and once the last name is called for the team, the three of you will leave and proceed to your assigned room. Now, starting with team one..." Iruka called each name, each group of three left in turn... And then came Team Seven.

"Team Seven! Uchiha Sasuke... Haruno Sakura..." Sakura cheered, but was quickly silenced. "Uzumaki Naruto." Sakura froze, her fist still in the air as she turned to look at Naruto, who held his left fist out towards Sasuke, who returned the fist bump rather quickly. The two boys stood, Naruto pausing to extend a hand towards Sakura, giving her a warm smile, waiting to help her to her feet. Sakura looked from Naruto's hand to his face, her left extending slowly, taking the offered hand. Naruto pulled her to her feet, giving her a nod before turning and making his way down the stairs, Sakura a few steps behind. Sasuke was standing in the hall waiting for them.

"Let's get some lunch." Naruto suddenly said, causing Sakura and Sasuke to look at him in shock. "N-Naruto! We have to hea-" Naruto held up a hand, cutting Sakura off from saying anything further.

"Trust me on this... I got a feeling our sensei won't be here until almost one." Sakura glanced at the clock in the hallway, it only read 9:42AM. Sakura looked at Naruto and Sasuke almost nervously, Naruto walking away and Sasuke thinking for a moment before following Naruto. Sakura grit her teeth and followed along, hurrying after the two boys as they left the academy and, to both Sasuke and Sakura's surprise, walked to a nearby sandwich store rather than over to Ichiraku's. The owner welcomed the three, clapping Naruto on the shoulder, the boy realizing he was respecting him for his actions the night before. After ordering their food and drinks, Naruto rubbed his eyes, feeling completely exhausted for some reason. Sakura tilted her head, a question on her mind, and Naruto noticed.

"What?" Naruto asked, turning towards her. "Uh, well... What... Entirely happened last night?" "He killed Mizuki." Sasuke answered for him. Sakura's eyes became dinner plates as she stared at Naruto. "But.. How? Why?!" Sakura demanded, staring at her new teammate.

"He tricked me... I... Stole something from the archives and he wanted it for someone... He was a traitor. He tried to behead Iruka-sensei... And I snapped. I.. I don't even know what I used to kill him, just that I did as Jiji and his guards showed up." Naruto lied, but with the way he was talking, Sasuke and Sakura didn't doubt him. Iruka had been a father to Naruto for so long they weren't surprised that he would have snapped to defend Iruka's life. Sakura, for the time being, wasn't obsessing over Sasuke, who sat right next to her, instead she was looking at Naruto in a whole new light as their drinks and food were delivered to the table.

The trio spent some time in the shop, just talking. Naruto knew almost everything that was going to be said, but to hear it here and now and not in the future was... A nice change of pace. When the conversation turned to their goals in life, Sakura paused, glancing at Sasuke before sighing and began playing with her nails.

"I... I don't know... I mean, I've always had something in mind, but... Naruto, I just don't know anymore..." "You could become a medic." Sakura blinked, staring at Naruto. "A medic? I..." "Think about it. You've always been the best at chakra control in the class, and medical stuff takes a ton of concentration. You'd be perfect." "He's got a point." Naruto nodded at Sasuke's added statement. Sakura looked down at her hands, rubbing her fingers together, imaging herself training to become a medical ninja... It wasn't a bad idea, really, she had to admit. Naruto looked towards Sasuke, raising his eyebrows, Sasuke quickly realizing it was his turn.

"Me? Well... I'm going to kill a certain someone and avenge my clan." "Sasuke-kun, tha-" "You're an idiot." Sakura and Sasuke stared at Naruto, whose glare towards Sasuke sent chills down their spines. "You really think being an avenger is going to help your clan, when you have no damn idea why Itachi did it? So much for being the number one in the class, huh?" Naruto practically snarled at the Uchiha, causing the boy to gulp, Sakura scooting to the edge of her chair, once more staring at Naruto in fear.

"You think that just up and killing your brother will solve your problems? All you'd be doing is progressing the hate further. Would killing him bring them back? Would it put them at ease? I doubt it, teme. You think repeating your clan's history since before the village was founded would solve anything?" Sasuke looked down at the floor, a slight red in his cheeks. He was being chastised by the dead last! He was being treated like a little kid who got caught stealing cookies from the kitchen! But... Naruto was right. How was he right? When did the dead last grow up this much? A few days ago he had painted the Hokage monument, and now here he was treating him, the Uchiha heir like a little kid! Sakura, on the other hand, was having different thoughts, a soft pink on her cheeks as she stared at the scene in front of her.

"Huh. You beat me to the punch." All three jumped as they finally noticed a silver-haired shinobi standing there at the end of the table, a copy of Icha Icha Paradise in his hand as he stared at the three with his single visible eye. Kakashi Hatake, the copy-cat shinobi of Konoha, their sensei... Was looking pleased. Naruto glanced at the clock and grimaced slightly; 1:02PM. They had spent longer in the shop then he had intended, but Kakashi didn't look too upset about it.

"Well, you three... My first impressions of you... Not bad. Could use some work, but at least two of you knows for sure what they want for their future..." Kakashi placed a hand on top of Sasuke's head, ruffling his hair a bit. "While the third just needs some guidance from his comrades, hm?" Sasuke smirked as he brushed Kakashi's hand away, giving their teacher a 'playful' glare and smirk as a waitress came to the table, but Kakashi only shook his head, quickly explaining that he was picking the three up. Kakashi turned back to the three, lifting his left hand to rub his chin through the ever present face mask.

"Hrm... Now then... Since being late clearly doesn't seem to bother you three..." Sasuke and Sakura gulped while Naruto only smirked. "Noon. Training ground three. Don't worry, I'll be there, being up bright and early doesn't suite me." Well, that was easy to change his tune, Naruto thought to himself as Kakashi gave them away and meandered off and out the front door. Naruto gave a restrained laugh, making a sound akin to a kazoo.

"Well, that went better than I thought it would." "No kidding." "Yeah... So, Sasuke-kun, Naruto... Thanks." Sakura said, her voice lower as she thanked the two. Sasuke blinked at Sakura, not really understanding why she was thanking them, but Naruto smiled and nodded towards her.

"We should do something like this all the time. I mean a lunch or something together. It might help us." "That is possibly one of the smartest things I've heard out of your mouth, dobe." "Watch it, emo-teme. I might let a kunai slip." Sasuke and Naruto glared at each other before breaking down and laughing, unable to take each others comments seriously, Sakura sighed and waved to the two as she left for the day. "So, dobe... How did you kill Mizuki?" "Huh?" "I know you were lying. You were trying to act too innocent." "... Damn it, I thought I was in the clear... To be honest I used something I read in the Scroll of Seals, the Shadow Clone Jutsu... I went overboard with it, they had to feed me a few soldier pills." Sasuke smirked, the Uchiha heir knowing what dispelling a large number of clones, especially those of the forbidden type could do to someone's head.

"Well. I think I'll head out, too. Get my stuff ready for tomorrow." Naruto nodded as Sasuke left, blinking when he noticed money already sitting on the table. Sasuke and Sakura hadn't... Kakashi, of course. Sneaky bastard. Naruto sighed as he pushed himself to his feet, nodding towards the owner as he left the shop. Naruto slowly made his way towards his apartment, pausing, his hand inches from the doorknob. He could feel someone on the other side... Oh, he knew who it was. He smirked as he slowly opened the door, the lights in his apartment suddenly flicking on as a blur of yellow, blue and gray rushed towards him. Naruto stepped slightly to his right and caught the individual by the collar of his shirt and long, blue scarf that hung around his neck.

"Konohamaru..."

* * *

**Next Chapter:** _Enter... Konohamaru!_


	3. Chapter 3 Enter Konohamaru!

**A/N:** Alright, so I ran into an issue when typing this; aka typing for an hour before realizing that, instead of pushing text along, it was deleting it. Bit of a pain in the ass, but I managed to work through it.

.. Well, there's not much else to talk about, so sit back and enjoy.

* * *

Chapter 3. Enter Konohamaru! And the Birth of a Bright Future!

* * *

Naruto held tightly onto the struggling, frustrated Sarutobi child. Konohamaru swung widely, trying to catch Naruto even once with a punch, but the blonde was holding him far enough that nothing was connecting. Konohamaru hung there for awhile, breathing heavily, sweat dripping down his face as he glared a the blonde holding him.

"Done?" Naruto finally asked, Konohamaru slowly nodded as his feet met the ground. The two stared at each other for several moments before finally, Konohamaru broke the silence.

"So... You're the one Grandpa keeps talking about. Naruto, right?" Naruto nodded, raising an eyebrow as Konohamaru clenched his fists as he looked up at the blonde. "Teach me!" Naruto could only stare at the kid, this was definitely different from when he did this the first time... He'd roll with it, for now.

"Why? There are plenty of instructors that would kill to have the chance to teach the grandson of the Hokage." Konohamaru shook his head violently, stomping his left foot several times.

"No! Hell no! They're all old and stupid!" Naruto chuckled as he placed a hand on Konohamaru's head.

"Alright... I got something I can teach you. I doubt you'll learn it anytime soon, though." Naruto held up his left hand, a blue orb of chakra forming, the violent, spinning ball giving off a soft breeze. "The Rasengan. The Fourth's second signature technique." Konohamaru's eyes were practically sparkling as he danced back and forth, switching from foot to foot.

"Swwweeettt! I get to learn an awesome technique!" Konohamaru stopped, however, when Naruto began rooting through his cabinets, searching for something. The blonde held up a rubber balloon, and proceeded to fill it with water.

"You've learned chakra control, right?" Konohamaru nodded slowly as Naruto placed the water balloon in his hand, pointing at it. "The goal is to swirl the water inside this balloon, and then in another direction as well, trying to pop it. Until you can figure out and manage it... You can't move onto step two." Konohamaru only stared up at Naruto like his was completely insane.

"It's how I learned how to do it, and trust me, it's about a hundred times harder than you think it is. Step two is even harder, and step three is dangerous to try if you haven't mastered one and two. Trust me, I nearly blew my hand off a few times with step three." Konohamaru paled and nodded as he slowly left Naruto's apartment, already focusing on the balloon in his hand. Now doubt the kid would have it down by the end of the week, but until then... He'd be kicking himself until he got it done. Naruto smirked as he sat down on his couch, staring up at the ceiling, slowly drifting off to sleep.

* * *

Naruto's eyes shot open as he looked towards the clock nearby. 4AM. Naruto scowled inwardly at himself as he slowly got to his feet. Moving to the bathroom he turned the shower on and stared at himself in the mirror. Nothing was different... Everything was the same. Of course it was... All of it would be. The blonde sighed as he undressed and stepped into the shower, the warm water hitting his back as he stared at the wall, his mind wandering into the depths of his memories.

**_'Kid. Oi. You've been in here for twenty minutes, get moving.'_ **Came Kurama's booming voice, bringing Naruto out of his trance. Shaking his head, Naruto stared at his murky reflection in the glass of the shower as the water soaked his hair. Sighing, Naruto cleaned up quickly, eyeing his hair for a moment, but a quick growl from Kurama once more dashed his idea to cut it.

"Oh c'mon, Kurama, it won't be that bad." 'Kid. What would shock the villagers of this time period the most? The delinquent cutting his hair? Or growing it out to match their 'esteemed Fourth', hm?' Naruto blinked as he stepped into his bedroom, pausing in his step, a devious grin crossing his lips. Kurama was right. The boy the villagers hated becoming a mini Yondaime would send ripples through the mentality of the village... Especially since some he knew of personally would try to off themselves if they came to believe that they had mistreated the son of the Fourth so poorly. Well, that would have to wait, it would take months for his hair to grow out to match his father's, so might as well put several people in their places while he was at it. Grabbing one of his new black shirts and a sleeveless orange muscle shirt, Naruto got dressed, pausing as he grabbed a pair of black long shorts, they gave him plenty of mobility, but extended to around three to four inches past his knee, stopping midway down his shins. Glancing down at the shorts he counter eight pockets, two buttocks, two normal pocket, and then four zippered pockets, red zippers on these, unlike the orange zipper of his shirts. The four additional pockets sat lower than the regular pockets in a staggered pattern, but they didn't mirror each other, all four were in different locations from each other.

"Alright... Training then breakfast... I might go for an omelet." Naruto murmured as he grabbed a pair of blue shoes, staring at them for a moment before scowling. "New damn shoes first, how the hell did I not destroy these things when I was a kid? Screw it." Grabbing a fresh pair of socks he stowed them into one of the four extra pockets, yanked on the toe-less shoes and hurried out the door, Kurama sighing as he took off across the rooftops towards the shopping district. 6AM was the time as he passed by a large clock that was hanging above a weapons shop, the one that, one day, Tenten would take over herself. Grinning to himself, Naruto headed towards a specialty shop that he had used in the future, hoping that their quality was just as good as it one day would be. He landed in a small alleyway next to the building, nothing that, in the future, the store had a much bigger layout, not that he minded. Naruto opened the door, nothing that the time for opening actually stated 5AM, making him understand that this really was a ninja aimed store. The old man behind the counter, the same one that owned it after the fourth war looked up as Naruto entered... And gave him a welcoming smile.

"What're ya in for today, sonny?" He asked, a soft whistling was heard as he spoke. Naruto pointed down towards his tattered shoes, causing the old man to scowl at the guilty pieces of footwear.

"Well, kiddo, those are the biggest pieces of junk if I've ever seem them. They don't even look that old... I got just the thing to match that outfit o' yours, too." The old man whistled an old war tune for the Warring States era as he vanished, causing Naruto to blink. Now that he didn't know about the old man; he was an old shinobi. Well, that explained many things about the shop's stock, and the style of said stock.

"Alright then." The old man said, appearing in a puff of tan colored smoke to Naruto's right. "Sit down here on this chair and we'll see if these fit." In his hands were a pair of black open-toed boots that went about halfway up his shins, a gray colored line went down the back and along both sides from sole to top. Grinning ear to ear Naruto flopped down onto the chair and slid his tattered shoes off, but paused as he reached for the new pair of boots.

"Uh... Have you got it in a closed toed version?" The old man blinked, but nodded, vanishing and reappearing several seconds later, this time appearing is a puff of teal colored smoke. He handed Naruto these boots as the boy pulled his pair of socks out of his pocket, slipping them on before sliding the boots on as well. Wiggling his toes he stared at them for a moment, wondering how the hell the old man had guessed his shoe size before even taking a single measurement... Come to think of it, he had done something similar in the future when Naruto came in a few days before Kakashi was named Hokage. What rank had the old man been? Surely he was older than Jiji, but that still didn't answer he question on how the hell the old man could move that fast seemingly without using a single pinch of chakra. Naruto stood, wiggling his feet around before pointing towards the open toed boots that had been set aside.

"I'll take those as well, can't wear these in the middle of summer." Naruto said with a wide grin. Several minutes later, Naruto was out the door and back in his apartment, stowing his new shoes away, deciding to wear the open toed boots after all. Naruto leaned backwards as he felt his back 'pop' as he stood looking at the time on the oven. 7AM. Great, just great, he still had plenty of time to waste. Sitting on the flimsy couch in his apartment Naruto leaned back and stared at the ceiling before getting an idea. Naruto pulled his legs up, crossing them as he placed his fingers together and held them in his lap before closing his eyes and delving into his own mind for a little one on one with Kurama.

* * *

_**"Well, I guess you wanted another kind of training already, hm?"**_ Kurama asked with a chuckle as Naruto appeared in front of the red gates of his seal as they slowly swung open, a smirk on both individual's faces. Without a moment's hesitation the two rushed each other, laying waste to the ever changing landscape around them. From a desert to the surface of the ocean to even the confined tunnel of a mine, the two dueled each other. From deflecting Bijuudama to withstanding a barrage of hundreds of Rasengan, Naruto and Kurama tested their limits, finally exhausting each other after several unnoticed hours had passed them by. After bidding the fox good night, well, for Kurama it would be nearly a week before he woke up, Naruto knew that Kurama would rest for that long, despite not really needing it. Opening his eyes, Naruto almost jumped backwards when he came eye to eye with none other that Kakashi Hatake. Clutching at his chest Naruto scowled darkly at his teacher.

"Damn it, Kakashi-sensei, what the hell?!" Kakshi blinked in surprise at his student's reactions, though it wasn't far from the mark, her was surprised at the wording of Naruto's exclamation. He had been expecting the blonde to ask how he got in, or even how he knew where he lived, but not a simple question like 'what the hell'.

"Well, Naruto, I was going to ask you what you were doing yesterday. I had meant to yesterday, but had to report to the Lord Third... And I wanted to know what you were thinking taking your two teammates away from the designated area to a sandwich shop of all places." The shit eating grin Naruto gave Kakashi almost made the Jounin deadpan and smack the boy over the head, but he restrained himself, wanting to hear the blonde's reasoning.

"Well, I had heard Kurenai-sensei talking to.. Uh... the guy with the cigarette... Asuma?" Kakashi nodded, but inwardly made a mental note to get back at Kurenai somehow... Make spiking her sake at the next get together... Seeing her try to get with every guy while in a drunken, delusional stupor would quite possibly be very entertaining.

"And what was said?" Kakashi was slightly curious now as to what the red eyed raven haired woman thought about him.

"That you were notoriously late and you would be a bad influence on us when reading Icha-Icha in front of us." Kakashi's eye visibly twitched in annoyance at that.

"Ah.. Well, let's get going, we've got about fifteen minutes to get to the training grounds... And don't zone out to talk with the fox." Naruto glanced at him curiously, the scarecrow only giving him once of his usual 'eye smiles' instead of explaining how he knew Naruto could speak to Kurama. Naruto slowly nodded and got to his feet, he and Kakashi leaving his apartment, but not before Naruto created a clone and deadlocked almost every window and door in his apartment, not trusting the villagers from this period in his life. He knew it wouldn't be until Pein decided to wipe out the village that he would earn any amount of respect with the villagers, but he would be sure to change that. Kurama grumbled something about a 'butterfly effect' but Naruto generally ignored him, leaving those kinds of thoughts to a private scenario instead of walking with Kakashi.

"So, Kakashi-sensei..." Kakashi glanced to the blonde boy to his left as they exited the apartment complex. "Know any useful wind techniques? I only know one." Kakashi paused mid stride and stared at Naruto's back as he continued on. The kid already knew his element? AND he knew a jutsu? Hell, the only ones he knew that could do that were the Uchiha, Sarutobi and even the few Senju left in the village. He did remember Minato mentioning that Kushina had learned wind release techniques during their academy days... And had become even more dangerous after learning water techniques to become a jounin herself.

"I do know a few, but they will take some time to learn.." The grin again. "You plan to use shadow clones?" Naruto nodded vigorously, making Kakashi wonder how the hell the kid's neck wasn't snapped from nodding so hard.

"Yup! It'll be easy! It's how I learned the Rasengan!" Naruto slapped a hand over his mouth as Kakashi slapped a hand onto the top of his head, shushing him loudly.

"Naruto, be careful where you say that. The Rasengan was Minato-sensei's prized technique, apart from his Hiraishin. If the civilians knew you learned the technique..." Naruto pushed Kakashi's hand away as he uncovered his mouth.

"Then they'll hate me even more... Tch, dad would be rolling in his grave..." Kakashi glanced down at Naruto as they approached the training grounds. So the kid did know who his parents were, as Sarutobi had warned him. At first he had doubted the old man's words, but now he couldn't deny them with Naruto's reaction. As they entered the training grounds, Naruto waved to Sasuke and Sakura, who looked at if they had just arrived themselves not long before them. The two duos approached each other, closing the distance quickly.

"Kakashi-sensei what are we going to be doing today?" Kakashi 'eye smiled' at Sakura's question before holding up three bells that he had drawn from his vest, causing Naruto's eyes to narrow. This was different. There had been two when he took the test... So why the hell were there three?

"A team exercise. Your goal is to, as a team, take the bells from my person. They will be tied on my belt, so it won't be too hard to begin with, but I won't be making it easy." Kakashi crossed his arms as Naruto stood next to Sasuke and Sakura, his eyes focused on the three bells, then rose to Kakashi's face. Sasuke and Sakura glanced at Naruto, waiting for some sort of outburst from the blonde, but none came, making them look back to Kakashi. The silver-haired jounin was looking at a watch on his left arm while holding up his right hand, his index finger pointed towards the sky. It twitched, causing the three to crouch into a readied stance. A second twitch causing their hands to dive into their weapon pouches... And then they were gone the second Kakashi's finger dropped towards the ground, making the jounin blink.

"Huh. They're quick. Especially Naruto. He was gone before the other two even shifted their weight... A seal-less Shunshin... I should try to learn that, kind of embarrassing that a genin knows it and a jounin doesn't." Kakashi mused. Instead of reaching for his book, Kakashi reached into another pouch, drawing out a kunai as he lifted his headband with his left hand. Sasuke would be a bit of a challenge, having been taught by Fugaku and Itachi, Sakura was... Well, she was mediocre from what he had heard... But Naruto. He was the reason for unleashing his Sharingan. The boy gone from dead last to knowing the Rasengan, killing a chunin in one move, apparently learning almost every jutsu in the Forbidden Scroll, and was on terms with the Kyuubi, the last two even the Lord Third found disturbing to admit. The boy had gone from a throw away to an enigma that could potentially be put up for a field promotion once he gathered the correct amount of missions. Kakashi would put that to the test, and he was in for it sooner than he expected as a yellow and black blur shot out from the underbrush, followed by another and then another as a fireball hurtled down from above. Kakashi cursed under his breath as he dropped the kunai in his hand, his hands flying through the required hand seals for his Hiding Like a Mole technique.

'Shit, they already are working in tandem... this will, huh?' Kakashi's thoughts were cut short as he could feel the pressure through the ground coming from above him. Thinking quickly, Kakashi moved forward, then jumped back to the surface, only to find himself face to face with a pink wrecking ball that threw a shoulder into his stomach. The impact caused Kakashi to grunt as he flung his left leg upwards, causing the pinkette to make an 'eep' sound at the jounin's foot barely missed her chin. His five second break was up as a raven haired rocket slammed into his right side. How the hell were these kids doing this AND hitting him this hard? Nothing in the files he had read came even closing to having prepared him for this... Wait a minute. The pink haired girl and the brooding Uchiha were smiling... A shit eating smile as Kakashi heard three bells tinkle behind him. Turning quickly Kakashi saw Naruto and his signature grin, Sakura with an almost equal grin, and Sasuke's smirk. All three were holding a bell. Kakashi pointed at the three, fumbling for his words before slapping his cheeks and coughing, the silver-haired jounin standing straight before speaking, poorly.

"Ex-explain." Kakashi stuttered. Sasuke only gave a 'hn' as Naruto and Sakura took it upon themselves to explain, each giving Sasuke a sideways glance.

"Well, I started by sending four clones at you one by one, but quickly while whistling to Sasuke. Sasuke, I guess knew what I wanted him to do and sent a Grand Fireball down at you from his position in the tree. When you sunk I yelled to Sakura to charge." Sakura took it from there.

"I started to charge, and when I saw the ground start to become cracked I threw my shoulder into it before one of Naruto's clones pointed at himself and make the swap single as he henged into me. So I swapped with the clone." Sasuke then added his two cents, causing three sets of eyes to turn towards him.

"After that I rushed in as you started to wind a kick up at the clone, another one behind you gave the same signal and henged into me, so I swapped right before impact, glad I did, it looked like Naruto hit you harder that I could. Naruto used the kunai you dropped to cut the bells and threw one to each of us." Sasuke's smirked returned full force.

"... If the chunin exams were tomorrow I'd pull strings to get you in... I've never had a single team work like that without even talking to each other..."

"We talked yesterday." Sasuke lied, causing Kakashi to deadpan as he turned his eyes to Naruto.

"I might have overheard a few older genin bitching about your 'bell test' so I asked them what they meant, I didn't tell them you were our sensei." Naruto flat out lied, covering for Sasuke, but Kakashi didn't seem to have even noticed and he grumbled something about 'too smart for their own good' and 'tying up loose ends'. Truth be told, everything had been on the fly for the three, adrenaline working for Sakura and Sasuke while Naruto knew what to expect for, well, obvious time travel related reasons.

"Alright... Well... Tomorrow, the Hokage's office at 8am, and yes, I will be there. We'll start working up our missions." Naruto held up a hand, scowling.

"Not D-ranks." Kakashi stared at the boy, raising an eyebrow. "... Alright, fine, but we're not going to physically do them ourselves... I can make three teams of shadow clones and get them done faster."

"Naruto. The missions make you-" The blonde haired genin cut Kakashi off, to the team's surprise.

"Bullshit on team work. Chasing pets, weeding gardens, helping in the market? That isn't team work. That's just physical labor. We can make the clones do those missions and, when we can, do the C-ranks ourselves." Kakashi and Sasuke stared at Naruto as Sakura's jaw hit the ground. Was this seriously the dumb blonde from their academy? Naruto had put some thought into this little plan, but only Sasuke and Kakashi understand exactly why he suggested the plan.

"Naruto, they'll know! The Hokage will just decline all of the requests, especially if we as for them one by one!" Sakura exclaimed, suddenly glaring at the blonde, who only gave her a mischievous smile in return, causing the pinkette to blink. That look only meant that Naruto's gears were turning and he was up to something.

"Jiji knows me too well. If I henge three clones into you guys and then have the clone of myself bitch and whine about having to come to his office all the time, he'll give us a stack of missions to do. Bing bang, problem solved, we can train for our C-rank and the chunin exams, right?" Sakura's mouth opened and closed a few times before Kakashi sighed, shaking his head.

"Naruto... Lord Sarutobi will notice if it's a henge." Naruto shook his head.

"Whose henge can fool even the best of the ANBU to a point that I can make them chase the clones while I myself start defacing the Hokage monument?" Naruto stated with a prideful look on his face. Kakashi sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose before reluctantly nodding.

"Alright, fine... Be here at 8am, Naruto will send his clones from here to the Hokage's office and get the missions, then return here to sort them out and send more clones on their way... If there's a mission involving Tora, the cat of the Daimyo's wife... We may need to do that one ourselves, that monster will dispel the clones in a heartbeat if we catch him. Naruto blanched, remembering Tora all too well, that monster of a cat was a real hell spawn, and only that beast of a woman that the Daimyo called a wife seemed to be able to tame it, hell it, would even attack the Daimyo if he looked at it long enough. The plan was set, and the pieces were in place... Sasuke could get some training and, hopefully, unlock his sharingan early, and Sakura could start learning how to be a medic with the scrolls Naruto was planning to 'borrow' from the library. He knew the librarians would throw him out, so sneaking in and stealing the damn things was the only thing to do.

"Alright... Well, I'll see you all tomorrow. 8Am sharp, don't be late. Ta!" Kakashi shunshined away, leaving the three genin standing there, Naruto yawning as he sat on the ground, groaning.

"Ugh... What the hell, I feel exhausted..." Naruto mumbled sleepily, not really, he needed to ditch Sakura and Sasuke and head home so that he could get ready for the next day, especially if he was to get the scrolls for Sakura. Sasuke nodded, giving his usual 'hn' as he stalked out of the training grounds and headed for home. Sakura looked from Naruto to Sasuke, and then back to the boisterous blonde before kneeling on the ground next to him.

"Hey, Naruto..." Naruto slowly turned his head towards the pinkette, raising an eyebrow at her. "I, uh... I just want to say thanks... Yesterday I was so scared with how you were acting... I just didn't know what the do. My head was in a jumble, especially after what you said to Sasuke." She leaned forward and gave Naruto and tight hug, causing Naruto to blush slightly. Even if he had lived for almost fifty years, being hugged by Sakura still caused him to blush, especially now, his younger body was still reacting as it had once done. Naruto lifted his arms and returned Sakura's hug, but only for a moment before releasing the pinkette.

"Not a problem, Sakura. Go get some sleep, I have a feeling Kakashi-sensei is going to drive us into the ground tomorrow." Sakura nodded with a smile before getting to her feet and hurrying off to, Naruto guessed, find Ino and talk up and storm and brag to the platinum blonde about being on a team with Sasuke and the new enigma that was Naruto. Naruto sighed as the pinkette vanished from sight, his arms coming up to lock behind his head as he lay back, the cool grass against his back as he stared up at the sky, his eyes lowly closing at he took in the sounds of nature around him. Absently, he could feel the nature chakra gathering around him, confirming his suspicion that he could still delve into Sage Mode. After around an hour of delaying and staring and thinking to himself, Naruto got to his feet and headed for home, passing by Konohamaru, who was still trying to pop the balloon, much to the chagrin of Ebisu after finding out that Naruto had been the one to set Konohamaru to the task. Naruto chuckled to himself since Ebisu, since obviously hating Naruto for interfering in his tutoring of the boy, the fact that the young Sarutobi had told Ebisu what technique we has learning was keeping his mouth shut. Naruto stood in front of his apartment door, blinking when he remembered that he had locked down everything... Not going to stop him. Using his shunshin, he appeared in his bedroom, sighing as he fell back onto his bed, creating several clones from where he lay. Naruto looked at his clones, who waited patiently for his orders. Looking at the four clones he smirked, as did the clones in turn. Naruto pointed to the left most two first.

"You two will be... Borrowing the medical teaching scrolls from the library while the other two provide... A distraction. I think the exterior of the library needs a good coat of paint... Neon orange." The four clones grinned before each using shunshin to vanished from the apartment. Naruto stared at his ceiling, confident that his clones could get it done, especially with the distract of orange paint defacing the library. Naruto closed his eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

* * *

"Ahem." Naruto's eyes flew open, only to realize that he was in his older body and Hagoromo stood before him in a completely blank realm, everything around them was pure white. Even though it was his mindscape Naruto squinted against the 'bright light' on instinct even though it didn't even affect him in here.

"Naruto. I see you have slowly begun to change things... But be careful. I sense some things that are not the same already. Obitio has not yet left Kirigakure, but he has recruited Kisame, Orochimaru and Itachi. Konan and Nagato remain in Amegakure, but I can sense that Obito has approached them with the prize of making Akatsuki into a world wide force of judgement."

"Orochimaru hasn't betrayed them yet?"

"No, he has not. Though I can feel the tension between he and Itachi. They are, at this moment, moving to approach Sasori while Kisame encounters Deidara. This subtle changes mean nothing, for I feel that they will bring those two into the Akatsuki. Zetsu remains within Obito's shadow, watching and waiting."

"Well... As long as things don't change too drastically... What about Kabuto?"

"Still loyal to Orochimaru. He is currently with a team here in Konoha, training for the chunin exams as he did in the past. Apart from the small changes with Akatsuki I can see no other changes... Rest well, Naruto, your clones have returned." As he said those words, Naruto was thrown back into his younger body as his clones dispelled, the scrolls lay on the desk nearby, but only three of the clones had dispelled, the fourth having sacrificed himself to clean the library. Naruto smirked to himself in a very Uchiha-esque way before laying back again and falling back to sleep. This time, Hagoromo did not grace him with his presence, instead he had resealed his chamber to allow the boy some sleep. Naruto slept soundly, despite his clone dispelling around 9pm, the information distorting an otherwise good dream with soap and a neon orange color. Kurama watched silently from within his cage, the boy's increased amount of slightly peeking the fox's interest. He chalked it up to the kid's soul readjusting to his younger body, but he couldn't be sure of anything, and it seemed like old man Hagoromo was off keeping and eye on the world, so asking was out of the question, it would have to wait for another time.


	4. Chapter 4 The Real Start

Hey, what's up, everyone? Sorry for the huge delay in between chapters. Work absolutely killed me for the past couple of months with 80+ hour weeks, that and I had to drop... Several thousand dollars on personal stuff, the major one being my car and then followed by needing to build a new computer after my laptop grey screened on me.

If you don't know what the means, it just means the inboard graphics cad died during operation, so, with nothing to boot off of, the entire screen turns grey. I settled with building a whole tower, so hopefully I won't have any issues in the near future.

* * *

Naruto's eyes flew open, sweat pouring down his face, arms, and he even felt it on his legs. His eyes darted all around his small bead room, his chest rising and falling rapidly. Kurama remained silent, watching the boy intently. Naruto had relived everything in the week leading up to everything he had experienced in the future, everything he loved burning alive before him. The blood, the fires, the stoic faces of the Hokages crumbling from the mountainside. Even Kurama was affected by the disregard for human life as one of the images flashed through his own mind; a child being screwed by a solider that was running past, and all the child had done was cry as his home burned to the ground.

Naruto lifted his hands, covering his face as he took a shaky breath, trying to calm himself as quickly as he could. Looking over at the clock, his eyes widened as he flew out of bed. 7:48am. Quickly throwing his clothes and open toed boots onto his feet, the blonde made himself a quick bowl of instant ramen with barely a few minutes to spare. Growling at himself, Naruto made a single hand sign and vanished from his apart, his empty bowl laying in the sink, no soap or water touching it in Naruto's rush. The blonde appeared on training ground three, causing Sakura, Sasuke and Kakashi to look in his direction as their blonde teammate appeared in a flurry of orange colored chakra, looking fairly disheveled and tired. Sakura and Sasuke approached their blonde comrade, a bit concerned with his appearance, but Kakashi's eyes narrowed as he stood off to the side, tuning out their conversation.

'His eyes... Those same eyes... Naruto, what exactly are you doing on the side?' The Copy-nin thought. Naruto's eyes reminded him of his own after he had been forced to kill Rin on a mission to rescue her from Kiri forces. Something wasn't right about the blonde, and the look in his eyes did little to quench Kakashi's curiosity. Kakashi finally cleared his throat, gaining the attention of the three genin.

"Alright, then... Naruto, let's attempt your plan." Naruto nodded and made a single hand sign, four copies of himself appeared, flanking him to his left and right. Naruto gave the four clones a thumbs up as three of them performed their henges, becoming perfect copies of Sasuke, Sakura and Kakashi. Naruto's eyes widened, however, when he realized that the clone that had become Sasuke had double henged, having first accidentally transforming into and older form of Sasuke, from just after Sasuke returned to Konoha after a year of traveling the world. Luckily, the smoke had yet to clear and Kakashi wasn't using his sharingan, that was a bonus, thankfully.

"Alright, you four. Head to Jiji's office and get a nice stack of missions... Mostly D-ranks... Whine about it if he won't give me, you know what to say." Naruto said with a broad grin as Kakashi hurried Sasuke and Sakura off towards the treeline. Naruto glanced towards the three as they hurried away, Kakashi explaining to Sakura and Sasuke what he wanted them to do, handing them each kunai as he pointed to two trees nearby to where they stood. The two looked at Kakashi questioningly before Kakashi eye smiled and proceeded to walk towards a three, then straight up it's surface before walking upside down on a large branch. Naruto smirked as his clones walked away and the boy stepped towards his team, but Naruto had a sudden though. The blonde dropped down into a low run, catching Kakashi off guard as the blonde shot straight up the tree using only his feet, causing the other three members of squad seven to drop their jaws to the floor. Sasuke grit his teeth, upset that the 'dead last' had just shown them up before they even got a single attempt in, but when the blonde returned to the ground... His knowledge was his! Sasuke mentally noted to ask rather than demand, the dobe had killed a chunin, after all, and had come to school the next day just to be placed on a team. Sakura only watched as Naruto slowly walked back down the tree, looking at her own tree a second later. The pinkette grit her teeth and rushed forward, placing one foot after another, making it nearly halfway up the tree before slashing the tree and losing the kunai in the process, the awkward angle having embedded the weapon rather than leaving a mark across it's face. Sakura was caught by Kakashi, the silver haired jounin admiring his student's surprising progress, then turned his attention to Sasuke, who had barely made it up the tree with two feet staying connecting as Naruto touched back down from his leisurely stroll.

"Sasuke! Try imagining your chakra as sandpaper, or hell, even nails sticking out from the bottom of your feet. Trust me." Sasuke blinked at the blonde before looking down at his feet, then at the tree, rushing the annoying piece of wood at a fairly quick pace, making Naruto grimace. At first he thought Sasuke would miss his step and slam into the tree, but instead, the Uchiha made a small jump as he approached, his left foot touching first, then his right, and off he went. He swung his right arm, marking the tree just a foot above where Sakura had reached on her own tree... If he had been looking at it thirty seconds earlier, that is. Sakura had taken Naruto's comment and turned it into results much as Sasuke did, the pinkette sticking her tongue out at the three below from the top of her tree.

"Uhm.." Sakura called out, causing Kakashi to look up as Naruto walked towards where Sasuke was sitting on the ground, examining a spot on the tree where it seemed he had used too much chakra. The imprint of his foot was all too apparent as Naruto whistled, chuckling to himself, remembering that the firs time he himself had done this little task in the Land of Waves, his foot had almost gone through the tree.

"So, Sasuke... Less spiky, more bumpy." Sasuke looked up at the blonde like he had just sprouted ten heads and twenty tails, causing said blonde to flick his forehead, much as he had done to Bolt when the boy was growing up. "More like sandpaper and less like a pair of climbing boots. You want to grip without sliding, use friction to your advantage, even if it's just chakra, give it enough oomph and you'll mold it into a solid state."

Sasuke blinked before nodding. Naruto had just explained something to him in such layman's terms that it was damn near impossible not to understand what the blonde wanted him to do. Wait, how was this happening? He was taking pointers from the dead last! Sasuke charged the tree again, starting with his left foot again, then his right, and up he went in almost no time at all. Sasuke gave a uncharacteristic 'eep' as he almost overshot the top entirely, grabbing hold of the topmost branch, almost breaking the poor thing as he came to a sudden stop. Naruto was grinning like a madman as Kakashi began walking up the tree to retrieve Sasuke, Sakura, meanwhile, was sitting at the base of her tree, rubbing her calves. Despite being a fairly simple exercise, her legs felt like they were on fire. Naruto, in the mean time, had begun rubbing his chin and started to walk, not even paying attention to where he was going. Seeing Sasuke and Sakura take to this like fish in water was... Odd, he had to admit. The first time this happened, Sakura, of course, had gotten it down, but she had now done it in almost one fourth of the time. While Sasuke had cut an almost full twenty hours out of his own record from their time in the Land of Waves. Hagoromo's words began to come back to him, maybe he was making a mistake in all of this, pushing their training ahead and making Sasuke and Sakura's attitudes change drastically from the first time around. Kakashi's calling fell on deaf ears as Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets and stared up at the sky, a soft smile on his lips before a certain cyclops appeared in his field of vision.

"Naruto. You're standing at the center of the lake." Naruto blinked and looked down before allowing himself to begin to sink, Kakashi quickly caught the blonde by an arm and shunshined to the shore where Sasuke and Sakura were, once again, staring at their blonde teammate in astonishment.

"Naruto... How? When.. Since when could you walk on water?" Sakura finally asked, taking Sasuke and Kakashi's words out of their mouths. Naruto reached up, scratching his nose as he thought.

"Uhm... Honestly, I didn't know I could. I would have taken a swim if Kakashi-sensei hadn't grabbed me." Kakashi, unseen by Sasuke or Sakura, narrowed his single eye at the boy. He could use shunshin, the Rasengan, climbed the tree like it was natural and, above all, he could talk to the Kyuubi without fear, from what Sarutobi had told him. So for him to hear Naruto say it was... Almost annoying. The boy could probably be promoted to a high chunin level, if not a low jounin, but with the boy's attitude, it was obvious that he didn't want to pass Sasuke or even Sakura and leave them in the dust. But why? Why was Naruto doing this? Where did Naruto learn these skills? These questions kept hounding Kakashi as he watched the three genin talk, Naruto now sitting on the ground, his shoes sitting in front of him as he air dried his feet. Before Kakashi could react, a pair of cerulean eyes had locked with his single silver eye, a flash of red almost causing the jounin to lose his composure. So that was it. The Kyuubi had been teaching Naruto. Apart from the boy snapping and killing Mizuki, nothing seemed out of the ordinary, the boy was acting like himself and was even helping the team on a path to become stronger. He would keep an eye on the boy, however, and report to Sarutobi if anything happened.

"So, Naruto... How did you learn tree climbing?" Sakura asked, causing Sasuke to noticeably perk up, the Uchiha's eyes now resting on his teammates. The grin Naruto gave the two told all three that the story would be fairly... Entertaining.

"Well, a certain white haired, perverted book writing Sannin was searching for a place to uh... 'Research'... And I caught him. He kept using the trees to keep away from me while I followed him. I guess I got on his nerves enough that he yelled 'use your chakra, brat!' and then he vanished." Sasuke blinked in surprise while Sakura stared at her blonde teammate in horror, while Kakashi chuckled.

"N-n-n-NAURTO! You were disrespectful like that to a SANNIN?! And Jiraiya of the Sannin to boot!" Naruto shrugged, rubbing the soles of his feet as he spoke, though he was sure Sakura had completely overlooked the fact that he had stopped a peeping pervert.

"I didn't know he was until I talked to Jiji about it. He was more surprised that I was able to catch him while, for years, he's been getting away with peeping on the women's hot springs." This time an audible crack was heard, causing the three males to pale as Sakura held her shaking fists, a tick mark clearly visible forming on her forehead.

"Sakura, c'mon, calm down. He might be a pervert, but he's a good guy. I mean, look what he did to chase Orochimaru out of the village! He has to be a good guy to have the balls the chase a stronger teammate out." Sakura and Sasuke blinked, having sworn that Naruto had been either asleep like Shikamaru, or out pulling pranks during that lesson. A loud whistle was heard, causing the four to turn their attention to the entry, where the henged clones stood with Naruto's signature triumphant grin on their faces.

"Hah! I told you it'd work!" Naruto yelled triumphantly, pumping both fists into the air, causing Sakura to sigh, Sasuke to turn away with a 'hn', and Kakashi to eye smile nervously. The kid had just duped a Kage into giving them god knows how many mission statements by just annoying the man. He didn't need to know what was said, other than he would be avoiding the Hokage's office for at least a week, if not longer, maybe until all of the missions were completed. The Kakashi henge flipped through a stack of thirty some missions, pausing at one as he held up the paper.

"Tora." It called, causing Naruto and Kakashi to pale. The demon cat of the Daimyo's wife. Wonderful. The real Kakashi walked forward, taking the paper from the henged clone, reading over it several times before sighing and running a hand through his silver hair.

"Well, it looks like training will be put on hold, the Daimyo wants this done asap to keep his wife from making a scene... I swear I did this exact missions back when I was around your lot's age as well... Oh well. Go home, get packed for a one week trip... Don't pack too heavy, the capital isn't that far. Oh, and pack plenty of bandages. That cat is a literal hell-spawn for anyone who gets hold of him." The three genin cringed and nodded as they got to their feet, minus Naruto who was busy pulling his shoes onto his feet. Naruto went to stand, but was surprised when Sasuke extended a hand, pulling the blonde to his feet, giving him a slight nod. Naruto noted that this was probably for the advice before... He'd have to do something else to get Sasuke in debt to him again, especially if he was going to keep the Uchiha off the path of the avenger... This was going to be a lot easier than it seemed. At least he hoped so. Moving things too dramatically might cause.. Issues. Akatsuki attacking sooner than Pain's invasion, hell, even the Kage summit and the war starting sooner. Naruto pushed those thoughts aside as Sakura said her farewell, followed by Kakashi and Sasuke, leaving Naruto standing there alone. Digging his hands into his pockets, Naruto made his way home, thinking of ways to break Sasuke's mask and to snap the remainder of Sakura's fan-girlishness to turn her into the earth crushing medic that he knew so well. And Sasuke... He would need to pull something to allow his Sharingan to evolve... Maybe even bring Itachi back to the village and swap their eyes... Yeah, that would be perfect, if not ballsy. But if it meant saving the shinobi world from sure destruction, then he would do what he needed to.

As Naruto left the training grounds, Kakashi melded back into existence standing firmly on a training log, surprised that his new found 'prodigy' student had looked right past him without realizing he was there. Kakashi slowly stepped down, his feet landing softly in the grass as he began following the blonde, who had begun zigzagging his way through the village, avoiding 'problem' areas, but generally avoiding people altogether. Kakashi began wondering where the boy was heading as he slipped through the North West gate, a minor gate that led into some secluded residencies and training grounds. It was when Naruto stepped onto a fairly overgrown trail that Kakashi began to really think. He knew this area all too well. Twelve years prior the Nine Tailed foxed had run rampant through Konoha... Only to be stopped by Minato Namikaze, the Fourth Hokage, Kakashi's teacher. The memory of that night sent a chill down Kakashi's spine, wondering if the fox was bringing Naruto here for some reason. Kakashi ducked behind a tree as Naruto came to a halt... In front of the very building that he had been born in.

Naruto remained motionless, staring at the building, destroyed, untouched by human hands since the day that Biwao Sarutobi and her apprentice, Taji, were removed from the rubble after the chaos had subsided. Kakashi watched in silence as Naruto ran a hand along the ruined door. Suddenly, Naruto's chakra rippled outwards, orange tendrils floating through the air as the unmistakable feeling of pure unbridled wrath overcame the area, causing Kakashi to nearly call out. He had felt this once before, twelve years prior when the Fox first appeared. Now here was his student, letting out that same, though diminished, feeling that had destroyed half of the village in a single night.

"I swear..." Naruto's voice suddenly reached his ears, the chakra and wrathful aura quickly dissipating. "I'll kill him." Kakashi's eyes narrowed. Who? Who was Naruto talking about? Blinking quickly, Naruto was gone. Kakashi hadn't even felt his chakra surge or even caught the sign of movement. Well, shit, this was a first. Kakashi turned and headed back towards the village, keeping to the shadows just encase Naruto had actually known he was there and had set up one of his infamous pranks... Luckily it wasn't to be.

Naruto had returned to his apartment, not caring to hide the fact that he knew Advanced Shunshin. Naruto felt the foor of his apartment under his feet after leaving the ruin, causing a sigh to escape his lips. Why, he didn't even know, he just felt that he needed to sigh. Placing a hand on the kitchen counter, Naruto stared at the empty bowl of ramen from earlier that morning, but ignored it and continued on to the bathroom where, after a long, hot shower, the blonde finally stepped out wearing a pair of long, black pants and his usual glaring sleeping cap, his shirt over his arm, his dirty clothes in a pile in the bathroom.

After entering his bedroom he tossed his shirt onto a chair and sat down on the bed, glancing towards the clock. 5:50pm. Great. Naruto sighed and crossed his legs, resting his hands in his lap as he dove into his mind to have a conversation with Kurama. Instead, he entered to see the marble wall was open, Hagoromo and Kurama sitting just inside the chamber, making Naruto wonder how he hadn't even heard the two talking, then he remembered who he was thinking about.

"Hagoromo, what's new?" Naruto asked as he approached the two. Kurama rolled his eyes at Naruto still lack of respectful words, talking to everyone like they were a best buddy.

"Well, Naruto, I was just explaining to Kurama that Orochimaru has defected from Akatsuki... After losing his left arm." This tidbit of news made Naruto smile. "But... He can change bodies, when, I am not sure, he might wait until the Chunin exams and come after Sasuke. In other news... Jiraiya is making his way here to the village and will arrive in a few days. It's a change, he is a year early than your original timeline, but that should affect little, if anything. Now, your plan for Itachi... He will need to be kept secret. He and Sasuke should be the ones to dispose of Danzo, in front of everyone once the truth is out." Naruto nodded, taking 'notes' on a mental notepad that he had conjured up for the situation.

"Now, the Mangekyou... Do you remember Kankuro from Sungakure?" Naruto nodded.

"Yeah, Puppet-bro. Temari's second youngest brother, Gaara being the youngest." Hagomoro nodded, cotinuing his explanation.

"He can create a puppet in the likeness of Itachi, and, with your henge abilities masking it's true appearance, Sasuke can achieve his Mangekyou. Afterwards, you can convince them to swap eyes." Naruto nodded as the realm around them began to shimmer.

"Ah, it must be close to your sleeping time. Take care, Naruto, and good luck, I shall come when something else happens." Naruto nodded as he gave Kurama a salute before exiting the mindscape. A quick glance at the clock told him it was nearly 9pm, a perfect time. Naruto slumped back into the pillows and was soon breathing slowly, sleeping claiming him rather quickly.


End file.
